~
Tonight, Friday, begins Shabbat. We've had some sick children this week so I'm ready for a rest and to just stay in my pj's all day.
Child #8, my Sweet Toddler, is doing much better and was able to keep his Shabbat meal down this evening. Child #3, the Young Lady, just wants to sleep and recover. Child #4, the Horse Lover, has really worked hard to clean the house AND take care of the sickies while I've been gone most of the day. I think she is ready for Shabbat, too!
~
The Bible study this week:
Parashah#46: Ekev, Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25
Haftarah: Isaiah 40:15-51:3
B'rit Chadashah: Romans 8:31; Hebrews 11:8-13
I haven't been able to put much time into our Bible study this week and my word studies have been at a snail's pace. This portion has been so very rich and I think can be somewhat summed up in this first verse, Deuteronomy 7:12, so that's where I will attempt to stay.
Deu 7:12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
This week's study is entitled Ekev, which is the second word of the Hebrew text, the seventh word of the English text. Here is one instance where Strong's is not as helpful to me, intially. How can the same word mean both "deciever" and "reward"???
Strong's usually gives just the root word meanings, which can be quite diverse, but leaves out the prefixes and suffixes and any middle vowels that can greatly shade the meaning of the word. Several sources all give me different meanings for this instance of Ekev and these definations are all listed in Strong's. It is up to us to figure out which applies.
This is where studying Hebrew culture and idioms comes in. I have to remember to think "Hebraiclly" which means to think in concrete terms. For instance, the concept of "Faith" is very abstract but in Hebrew thought, "Faith" is conveyed as "to stay on the path." Doesn't this wonderfully illustrate Psalm 119:105?
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
In other words, the words of the Father give us the ability to have faith and walk uprightly.
But back to the Parashah...
Some online sources give me such seemingly diverse interpertations of Ekev as:
*"On the heel of..." This source uses the first definition from Strong's and is a very concrete idea. It just makes no sense to my Western mind. The root of Ekev is actually the same as Ya'akov, (Jacob) which means "hand on the heel." Remember Jacob was the twin of Esau and was grasping Esau's foot as they were born.
*"Because..." abstract concept also in Strong's
*"if [you follow]" I think this meaning is closer to the "heart"of the matter. It is the last definition listed in Strong's and while it is getting closer to the concrete Hebraic thought, it can still lag behind.
*"Reward from..." Our friends in Israel, to whome I tend to listen, tell me Ekev means "reward from..." While this makes sense, the passage is referring to the rewards, or blessings we recieve when we follow the commands of the Father, this is still a very abstract concept. This definition is also found in Strong's.
Jeff Benner's Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible helps to work through some of this muddle. It is used similar to the concordance but puts words in a more concrete, Hebraic fashion; it is closer to a native speaker's thoughts. With the help of the Lexicon, I can think in more Hebraic terms and go back to that first definition. Here's what I might say:
It will be on the heels of the right rulings...
This is more concrete and better illustrates the Hebraic thought. It actually goes with the "if [you follow]" translation, but "to be on the heels" of something is to follow immediately with no chance of lagging behind.
What is "it" in this verse? "It" is the assurance that the Father will guard the Covenant he made with our fathers; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We need to go back to Genesis 15 and re-read about this Covenant. This Covenant was first made with Abram (later Abraham) and involved cutting or slaughtering animals. The Father, possibly in the form of a Menorah, (KJV calls it a smoking furnace and a burning lamp) passed between the cut pieces of flesh and walked through the blood. Talk about Messianic! He was in essence saying:
"May it be also done to me if I go back on my word."
Notice Abram didn't pass through the slaughter. Could the Father have made a one-sided Covenant? This thought is supported by the word "sware" later in the verse. נשבע n'shawba (H7650) "to complete" "to seven oneself." Remember, a Menorah has seven lamps, we're not talking about the more popular nine-branched Chanukeah used during the Chanukah celebration. Could the Father have completed this covenant himself? If so, what was required of Abraham, and what is required of us today: to guard and obey His commands. He says His commands are not burdensome, 1 John 5:3. What a kind and compassionate God we serve!
Back to the Parashah...
KJV translates the parashah text as:
Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, to keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the convenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
But Hebraically, the text might read something like:
It will be on the heels of the right rulings when you guard and practice them, that YHVH, your elohiym (god) will guard for you the covenant and the kindness he completed to your fathers.
I know it doesn't seem like a really big difference but it is making a big impact on me. The blessings that YHVH stated to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (and in this Parashah) will be on the heels of obeying the judgements, the right rulings.
These studies take me such a long time to work out, Proverbs 25:2 has become my Motto:
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
We have purchased a Mechanical Translation of Genesis and Exodus that does help me. I hope Mr Benner's Mechanical translations of the rest of the Torah are published soon.
Now I need to figure out the rest of the today's passage...
~wow~
No comments:
Post a Comment